English

Generalized Pell's equations and Weber's class number problem

Number Theory 2022-11-28 v3

Abstract

We study a generalization of Pell's equation, whose coefficients are certain algebraic integers. Let X0=0X_0=0 and Xn=2+Xn1X_n=\sqrt{2+X_{n-1}} for each nZ1n\in \mathbb{Z}_{\ge 1}. We study the Z[Xn1]\mathbb{Z}[X_{n-1}]-solutions of the equation x2Xn2y2=1x^2-X_n^2y^2=1. By imitating the solution to the classical Pell's equation, we introduce new continued fraction expansions for XnX_n over Z[Xn1]\mathbb{Z}[X_{n-1}] and obtain an explicit solution of the generalized Pell's equation. In addition, we show that our explicit solution generates all the solutions if and only if the answer to Weber's class number problem is affirmative. We also obtain a congruence relation for the ratios of the class numbers of the Z2\mathbb{Z}_2-extension over the rationals and show the convergence of the class numbers in Z2\mathbb{Z}_2.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2010.06399,
  title  = {Generalized Pell's equations and Weber's class number problem},
  author = {Hyuga Yoshizaki},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2010.06399},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

17 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-23T19:18:43.384Z